Tis the Season
by casfics
Summary: A series of festive mishaps involving the adventures of Lily & Iain.
1. chapter 1

**So, my long awaited (by myself, anyway) Winter fic has landed! I know it's early but I started a while ago and couldn't wait any longer to share. Also, not too sure what's happening on screen and things might change re. writing stories if certain people leave!**

 **I love this season so very much - I'm super excited to write festive one shots/stories. Hope you enjoy!**

Lily questioned many things in life. Not to be awkward, but just to be sure. Everything was more plausible when there was reasoning behind it, something to be understood. But, for her own life, she could not understand the frenzy and bustled that ensued amongst high street shops. In November.

The wind was icy, foggy withal. Strands of hair flew in her face, unrelentingly so. She batted them away, becoming more and more wound up. Iain seemed oblivious to this, not sharing the problem at all. He marched along with what looked to be enthusiasm. Cheeks aglow, he greeted every stranger with a smile and the occasional 'seasons greetings'.

Sucking her teeth, Lily plodded on behind.

'It's not Christmas yet, not for ages.' She pointed out.

'Alright Scrooge.' He pulled a face, even more determined to find more shoppers he could well wish.

'I am just saying, you have seven weeks. You'll peak too soon. What's more-'

'Do I usually have that problem?' He fired back, refusing to take his eyes away from hers. As her cheeks flushed, he smirked in delight. 'Oh, lighten up Lily! Tis the season and all that.' He nudged her shoulder roughly, wrapping an arm around her.

'You're weeks too early though.' She muttered.

'And who defines early then? Come on, I could get run over by a bus tomorrow.'

'Iain...'

'Oh shit, sorry. There's me and my gob. I didn't mean it like that. Insensitive choice of words.'

Recognition dawned on her face, alongside a little sadness. 'No, no, I wasn't thinking of that.'

'Oh...' Iain grimly realised he'd jumped the gun. 'I should've just-'

She intervened, a hand out in the air in front of them. 'You shouldn't be so caustic, that was all I was going to say.'

'I was trying to make a point though. If you can't be happy right now, when can you be?' He pulled her mittened hand out of the pocket, taking it in his. 'Come on. Unless you're going to continue being Christmas-a-humbug.' She stayed silent as they walked into the main building of the shopping centre. 'You've got a smile behind that pout. If I don't see it, I'll sing.' He threatened.

Reluctantly, she gave him a small smile. 'Better!' He grinned. 'Don't rate my singing then?'

'Hmm. There's _more_ melodic voices out there...' Her eyes travelled to her feet as she stepped onto the escalator.

He snorted. 'Least I don't do it in the shower.'

'What? I do not sing in the shower!' She said, indignant.

'You think I don't know! Five thirty in the morning, Take That sound as if they're being submerged under water and strangled. It's an interesting wake up call.'

Her lips pursed again. 'I sing better than you.'

'Ah! So you're not denying it then?'

'Oh, be quiet.' She replied, tucking her hands back into her pocket as they reached the top floor.

'Where now?' He asked, strolling a few paces ahead of her. 'We've already done all the boring furniture shops, and there's nothing more you could possibly want to add to the cottage that has everything. Name your shop.'

She shrugged back, clearly indifferent. 'It doesn't matter. They're all going to be the embodiment of hell.'

'Lily!' He laughed.

'Screaming toddlers, in-your-face assistants, silly music blaring out, queues a mile long, horrendously gaudy tree decorations. Don't even get me started on the clothing.'

He stopped for a second, looking at her, incredulous. 'You really don't like it, do you?'

'I _tolerate_ it.' She sighed, obediently following as he darted into the shop.

To her dismay, everything was exactly as she'd imagined - and worse.

An artificial tree, mounted on a stand, was decorated with tinsel and a whole manner of decorations. The baubles' glitter caught the light, the fairy lights pulsated with colour, an array of stockings cluttered the shelves.

And, noise. Lots and lots of noise.

'Hey, Chuckles.' She spun around, trying to work out where he was. 'Look at this.'

'Jingle my bells...' Lily read out, frowning.

'And this.' He produced a similar jumper but in bright blue.

She squinted to see the lettering. 'Pull my cracker.' She read, without a hint of intonation, and gave a disapproving eye roll before turning around.

'They're ace. We could be matching in them! It's Jumper Day on the last Friday before Christmas!' He said.

'Oh yes. I'd love to take the heinously inappropriate option and make a spectacle of myself. Hello, I'm Dr Chao, I'm here to save your relative's life. Try not to be alarmed and don't glance below my shoulder if you can help it. I promise I'm a professional though.' She replied. He snorted, then continued to rifle through the clothes on the discount railing. 'You know me so well.' Lily continued.

'Ah...' He waggled a finger. 'I know what would be _good_ for you.' He slid his hands around her, settling them on her hips. 'I believe there's a difference. It would be a real statement, wearing a jumper like that.'

She jerked away, a sudden movement. 'Not here.'

'At home then?' His eyes sparkled knowingly.

She stopped still, eyebrow raised. 'Depends if you behave yourself.'

'Behave? Me?' He asked. 'Besides. This hard to get is just a front, Lils. I know how you feel.'

Her expression hardened, lips pursing, not in the mood for a joke. 'Seriously, hurry up.'

'I'm looking!' He protested. 'I need a jumper, don't I? So do you.'

'I won't be taking part.' She replied.

'What? I hope you're joking.' He inspected the sleeves of a red jumper he'd picked it, pulling at them slightly.

'I'm not joking. This is all tacky. Look, if you really want a jumper, let me order you one online.' She sighed.

'And end up looking like I'm from some sort of vintage catologue? No, Lily. Don't waste your money. Bargains, these!' He almost shoved the price tag under her nose.

'Exactly.' She mumbled, as he hurried off round the corner.

'Look at this for the top of the tree!' He produced a spectacularly loud-looking ornament.

'This is way too early. _Weeks_ too early.' She grumbled, as he turned the box to read the label.

He turned to face her with a little laugh. 'Look, if you want to go grab a coffee, I don't mind meeting you.'

'That wasn't the point, the reason we came here was to spend some time together.' She looked anguished, nibbling a lip.

He frowned, taking her hand. 'Yeah, but it's not a big deal. Look, have this. Consolation token for being a pain in the backside.' He winked, pressing a small rectangle of plastic into her palm.

'Go buy drinks.'

'Okay.' She made her way out of the shop, turning round when he called to her.

'Don't be lavishing out on anything expensive with my card, I know what you're like.'

'I've got to walk past the travel agents to get to the coffee shop.' She widened her eyes innocently.

'Lily...'

'As if, you should know by now that you have a low maintenance girlfriend.'

'Low maintenance? Pffft!'

She walked out of the shop smiling.

-x-

She couldn't help but stand a little straighter when she saw him approaching, even though his hands were in his pockets and he wasn't making an awful effort himself.

'Coffee?' She offered primly.

He took it, opening the lid and giving it a sniff. 'Depends.'

'If I didn't have worries of scalding you, you'd be battered for that remark.'

He couldn't help but laugh. 'You'd never lay a finger on me as long as you live.'

'Just because I haven't _yet_.' She said.

'Oh, pipe down, you'll talk your drink cold.' He told her. With a wiggle of the eyebrow, she lifted the cup to her lips. 'This is good, actually.'

'Gingerbread latte times two. One of the reasons I tolerate the season.'

'Well, if it keeps you sweet around the shopping centre, I'd happily buy you a thousand my love.'

People bustled about, even though it was late. Overtired children screeching in pushchairs were being trundled along by frazzled parents. Teenagers with bleached hair loitered suspiciously in shop entrances, security guards patrolled. Police - lots of police - all armed.

'Doesn't it scare you?' Lily asked as they stepped outside into the cold. The sky was a deep blue colour and stars visibly twinkled in the sky.

'What?' Iain asked, watching his words billow out in coffee-infused steam.

'All these police.' She gave a little shudder.

'I wouldn't say scare.' He pulled a face. 'I feel better about coming to a big place like this. You know, on the off chance if anything was to happen.'

'If the gun got into the wrong hands though...' She bit her lip.

'Well, you needn't worry about that. There's months of intensive and thorough training to go through, and they're supposed to be quite difficult to use. Plus, I can't see him letting go of his weapon any time soon.' He gestured to a burly police officer about ten feet away. 'Honestly, we're safe as safe. It's just a precaution.'

'I guess you're right.' Her eyes travelled to their feet and noticed they stepped in time with one another.

'Home time?' He suggested. 'We've been here a while.'

'If you're sure you've had enough.' She replied, clutching the cup tighter as the wind blew. 'I could make dinner.'

'Sounds good. I'm wanting a bath.'

'Did the plumber come?' She asked, remembering.

'Yeah, he did. I forgot to mention. Said it was hard wiring up the electrics and water in such an old structure. Most pipe fitting calls he gets are for renovations or people that live in flats and have a problem. I apologised but explained that the cottage is cheap rent, and probably short term till we find somewhere better.'

'It was good of him to sort things out at such short notice, considering the time of year too. I imagine we could manage do with just a shower, but then a bath would be nice.' She said.

'Exactly, that's the thing. I mean, perhaps we were in a bit of a rush to move in, but-'

'No, we were either at mine or yours and we were individually paying rent for the places we only spent half our time in. This is logical.' She gave a small smile, then huddled closer to him.

He welcomed this and wrapped an arm round her, gently kissing her temple. 'These few months are going to be ones to remember.'


	2. chapter 2

'What about decs, then?' Iain lazily sipped from the wine glass.

'What about them?' Lily asked curtly.

He rolled his eyes. 'When, should I say. It's not a question of whether we're having them, because we are.'

She was quiet a moment. 'Not till at least the last week in November.'

'I can deal with that.' He put the glass on the side, making his way over to her.

'It's the 3rd of November, you have a few weeks.' She reminded him.

'Yeah, I'm a patient man.' He moved behind her, kissing her neck.

'I'm trying to cook.' She stirred the pasta slightly too much.

'As I said. I'm a patient man. I'm just being affectionate, you're my girlfriend after all.' He replied.

'I know your game.' She snatched the spoon away from him as he tried to take it off her.

'No licking the cooking either.' She scolded.

'What about the cook?' He flirted, sweeping a strand of hair out her eyes.

'Don't be crude. Make yourself useful and set the table.'

He frowned. 'Bossy.'

'Just set the table! I'm making your food, it's the least you can do.'

'What you putting in it?' He peered over her shoulder.

'Secret ingredient.' She wrapped her hands around the bottle.

'Secret ingredient? Secret from your boyfriend?' He pulled a face, throwing cutlery onto the table.

She glanced over her shoulder, trying to remember not to lose patience with him. 'Um, Chao family secret. How do I know you won't go spreading it?'

'Because I have better things to do with my time then tell others how to make spag bol. Besides, they probably already know.'

'Just sit down and let me cook, stop jibber jabbering nonsense in my ear.'

He did as he was told, quiet for a few seconds before piping up again.

'Work tomorrow?' He asked.

'Yes. Twelve hour shift. Can't wait.' She replied drily.

'Ooh, tough. When do you start?'

'Seven.' She answered. 'It's unusual, normally it would be 5 or 8. However, things have been somewhat unpredictable since Mrs Beauchamp's leave.'

'Yeah, yeah, everything's been all over the place. Elle tries, bless her, but the organisation isn't the same.'

'No. Mrs Beauchamp offers unparalleled management. We... we really feel the absence of it when she's not there.' Lily agreed. 'Anyway. Dinner.'

'Thanks, it smells great.'

-x-

After towelling her hair, she entered the living room.

'Hey.' She smiled.

He looked up from where he was crouched, by the small fire place in the centre of the room. 'Hi. You alright?'

'Yeah, I'm good. I see you started the fire?'

'Yeah, at long last.' He stood up, brushing his hands down his pyjamas, leaving soot trails. 'Now on to the other appliances in the house, at some point this week obviously.'

'And first job, the washing machine.' She pointed out the stains by his knees.

'Eh, these ones are tatty anyway. Look at all the threads fraying, especially by the ankles-'

'Hint hint.' Lily raised an eyebrow with a smirk, lifting the damp tendrils to the outsides of her pyjamas.

He gave a little smile back, before pausing when he noticed her shudder involuntarily. 'This room will be warmer in no time.' He said, sitting down with a sigh in the rocking chair. That's the only thing with it being so old, takes ages to heat.'

'It's home.' She replied, going to join him. 'That's what matters.'

He groaned, slightly exaggerated, the way a parent would upon the realisation their child was a lot heavier than they used to be. 'Lump.'

'I'm not even-' She begun.

'I'm messing. Wouldn't be able to call you it if it were true.' He rested a hand on her shoulder while she draped her legs over him. A pause. 'You can't be comfy like this.'

'I am.' She replied, with enough decisiveness to dissolve all the words in his mouth.

'Are your feet even touching the ground?' Iain craned his neck and saw that they weren't. 'Ooh, wouldn't it be tempting to play a game of barbers shop.'

She gave him a reproachful look, which only served to fill him with more delight.

'I went to the barber's shop, to get my hair cut off...' He begun cheekily, jiggling her up and down slightly too violently. This caused her to giggle in spite of herself, but her amusement was short lived. 'When I got there, I sat on the chair-'

'You _dare_ drop me, Iain.'

She could almost feel the hesitation. 'The chair went pop!'

Landing on the floor with a thud, she looked to give him a scathing look.

'You- _you_ -'

He laughed harder at the torrent of expletives that she mumbled under her breath as she climbed back up and resumed her original position. 'Well, what were you expecting?'

'A nice cuddle with my boyfriend?' She replied, with a scowl.

'Oh, you don't know me, Lily.'

'Believe me. I do.' She rolled her eyes.

In the background, the fire crackled away cosily. Every so often, a spark would fly out. Lily was mindful of this, her eyes hovering in that direction every thirty seconds or so. It wasn't that there was anything to be anxious out, but she was aware of the cottage's unfamiliarity. Sensing this, Iain finally put two fingers to her cheek softly and swivelled her head around. 'Seem tense, what's the matter?'

'I'm just watching the fire.' She replied. 'I'd hate for it to catch to the rug, or anything else for that matter.'

Both pairs of eyes simultaneously travelled to the centre of the room, observing for a while how the curls of orange and yellow danced there.

'No, it won't.' A pause. 'Don't you think I did a mini mental risk assessment? Wouldn't want to put my princess in harm's way, now would I?'

Taking a moment to remove his hand from her face and hold it in hers, she gave a rueful smile. 'I guess not.'

'I can blow it out and then try crack on the heating if it's making you anxious though.' He said.

'No.' She mumbled, burying her face deeper into his chest.

He laughed a little. 'It'll only take me five minutes. Then your precious cuddly time can resume.'

It was a well known fact - that although never mentioned - Lily loved cuddles. She thrived off any kind of attention he directed towards her. Above all though, being held was high on her priority list. In the first few weeks of their relationship, Iain had found it cute. It was flattering that she wanted to be so close. However, as time had passed, it became more of a routine. He never saw it as a chore - affection was nice, and it was one of the reasons he loved her. One of. On occasion, it did feel suffocating, quite literally. He joked about her being a limpet, about him becoming desensitised to them, about her having ulterior and unusual motives when she suggested an "early night" (by his books, it meant something _much_ more strenuous than lying comatose). All to no avail though. Nothing deterred her or in any way changed her behaviour. In fact, the more he brought it up, the more clingy she'd get. Experience taught him that it was easier, for the sake of his own sanity and peace, just to oblige.

Still, Lily seemed grumpy at the prospect of having to move from the position they were in.

'I'll be too warm.' She complained. 'And then what if you can't turn it off?'

He frowned a little, tapping her on the nose affectionately. 'If I can get it on, I'm fairly sure I can get it off. Your feet are freezing, so I think temperature-wise you'll do just fine.'

Slumping slightly, she pulled a face. 'Iain!'

'I'll be like, three minutes, let me put out the fire-' As he moved to get up, Lily, with force, pulled him back down by the arm.

As their lips collided, he moved backwards jerkily.

'What?' Her eyes widened, face already beginning to fall.

'Well, nothing, it's just... it's early.' He said. 'And, I need to sort out this heating debacle.'

'Oh, leave the heating.' Her mouth was on his again, and he had no choice but to surrender.

'If it catches fire, don't blame me.' He said.

'You said you did your mini risk assessment.' She replied, not missing a beat.

'I'm just saying, safety first and all that.'

After a few more seconds of kissing, she moved away first. Wiping her mouth confidently with the back of her hand, she locked eyes with him. 'Do you want this, or not?'

She was teasing, knowing too well she had the upper hand. His eyes screamed the response she was trying to worm out, while his words said otherwise.

'Actually...' He begun, voice still an octave lower than usual. 'Maybe I will go sort out that fire. Just to check.' He scrubbed at his own lips with the palm of his hand, then met her outraged expression with a cool one of his own.

The sparkle in his eye gave his game away; playing hard to get was something they both loved doing. It was flirting at its most piteous, juvenile kind, yet the thrill was equally anticipated by them both. As he rose from the rocking chair, she followed him, taking two steps for every one huge stride of his.

Glancing over his shoulder, he had to fight to resist a smirk appearing. 'Go on, I said I'd be five minutes. Go wait there.'

There was something about his commands that amused them both. Defiant, stubborn Lily was not going to listen. This, they both knew.

'Don't boss me around, I can follow if I want to.' She played back, uncertain for a moment if he thought it was a game too. Though she knew him well, it was still early days, and sometimes there were obvious grey areas and misunderstandings that happened because of these.

He'd long stopped replying, fiddling with the fire aimlessly instead. The silent treatment. It worked in his favour, as she found the quiet unbearable. He was better at the game than she. Within the first minute, she crouched beside him.

'Can I help?' Her face was inches away from his. Three, innocent words.

He froze, stuck for a response. Both were left there, staring at each other, until they simultaneously giggled and looked down. He recovered himself, squinting his eyes slightly to see her through the refracted glare of the flames. 'I don't know, can you help?'

She noticed the dilation of his pupils with silent satisfaction. Something she was doing was working. 'Uh, I'm good with fires.'

Silence for a few seconds, followed by his spluttering. 'Oh, I have to give it to you. You're good with fires? Pick up line of the year, Lily.'

Her eyes fell to the floor. 'I didn't know what to say! You can fire these one liners back at me and I don't know-'

'Sorry, you said fire again. You've got a thing with fires, haven't you?'

'Stop!' She whined, even more embarrassed. He laughed lightly in response, turning back to the fire. To distract from the awkwardness she felt, she leaned into the wooden basket that he was getting the fuel from. Wood, stones, logs and bits of paper of all different dimensions.

With little thought, she threw what she thought to be paper onto the fire. As the flames leaped upwards, she had just enough time to watch the horror that filled his face before he knocked her backwards onto the rug with an arm. Catching sight of an old pint glass of water, conveniently left on the mantel, he threw the contents on with one quick movement. In a second, the colour was gone. The heat had ebbed slightly. All that remained were embers in the bed of the fire place.

Slowly, he rotated his head round to look at her from where he was knelt. 'Good with fires, you.' As he stood up, he threw a tea towel in her direction and left the room.

Ten minutes later, after no sign of her, he went back to the living room.

'Lily?' He called, into the open.

Hearing sniffling, he followed his ears and crouched down aside where she was curled up.

With a gulp, he rested a hand on her knee. 'Don't be upset. It could've been so much worse.'

After a moment, she raised her head to look at him. 'You were mad though, weren't you?'

He shook his head, confused, until he realised how he'd left. 'No, no. Just a bit panicked and dazed, I- no. Really, I just had visions of it going so much worse. If I hadn't seen...'

Face still firmly in her hands, he realised he wasn't doing anything to make her feel better. 'Way to put the insurance up though, hey? What did you even put on?' He asked, with a gentle nudge.

'It was this paper, or so I thought.' She explained miserably.

'Was it triangular shaped?' He asked, thoughtful.

'I-I don't know, why?'

'If it was, they were coated in plastic. I noticed and I wasn't using those. They'd been left by the old tenants. Dangerous, really. Not your fault though.'

'Sorry I killed the mood.' She mumbled, drying her eyes roughly with the sleeve of her jumper.

'Who says?' He stood up, outstretching an arm for her to take. Reluctantly she did, and he pulled her up with little effort. 'Maybe let's skip the awkward half-hearted flirting bit - just for tonight anyway.' He smiled a little.

She giggled. 'Okay.'


End file.
